Sanitary paper and rubbish picker



Jan. 14, 194-1. CRARY 2,228,690

SANITARY PAPER AND RUBBISH PICKER Filed Aug. 19, 1959 a fwlirzefl 1169%] SUM-4112A Patented Jan. 14, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiCESANITARY PAPER AND RUBEISH PICKER Palmer Ci'aryJJamaica, N. Y.Application August 19, 1939, Serial No. 291,090 4 Claims. (Cl. 94-61) Myinvention relates to improvements in sanitary paper and rubbish pickers,and particularly to a device of this character intended and adapted foruse by park employees, and others, for picking up paper and rubbish fromthe ground and for dropping this into a bag, can, or other collectioncontainer in which the paper or rubbish is removed.

An object of my invention is to provide a device of this character thatcan be held and used and operated and manipulated by one hand of theworkman, thus leaving the other hand free for carrying or manipulatingthe container for receiving the material as picked up.

Another object is to so construct the parts that the pickup pin or spikeis normally guarded to thus prevent injury to the person or damage tothe pin or objects with which it may come in contack by being carried,that the picking up operation causes the pin to be exposed t-oimpale-andhold the paper or rubbish, and that the parts can be readily manipulatedto cause the paper or rub bish to be pushed ofi or removed from the pin.

Still another purpose is to provide a device of this character that isof simple and inexpensive I construction, thus permitting sale at a lowprice with consequent wide distribution and use, and which will provecompletely sanitary in use since the operator or user need not touch orhandle any part of the paper or rubbish as picked up, while at the sametime the parts are such that there is little likelihood or danger of anyportion becoming 'broken or damaged while in use.

With the above and other objects in view, some of whichwill be apparentto those skilled in the art and others of which are inherent in theconstruction and operation and use of the device, my present inventionincludes certainnovel features of construction and arrangements andassociations of parts which will be hereinafter set forth in connectionwith the drawing and then pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation illustrating the parts in pinguarding relation and in position for use.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view taken substantially at right angles to theshowing in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1 disclosing the relation of the partsin pick up position with the pin exposed.

The handle or staff I can be made of wood or of any other suitablematerial, and this handle or stick or staff 'is preferably ofcylindrical form with the end 2 thereof rounded over to present a smoothsurface for and prevent injury to the hand of the user when graspingthis handle or stafi by the handgrip portion at 3. This handle or stickor staff! is made of any desired and suitable length, such that as theuser grips the portion 3 within the hand the pickup or opposite end isreadily and conveniently brought adjacent to the ground. This pick upend 4 has a pin or spike or prong 5 suitably mounted or fixed thereon ortherein to extend with its pointed end 6 presented substantially axiallyso that the user grasping the handle at 3 can readily and convementlypick up paper, fruit skins, and other rubbish by impaling the same uponthis pin or spike or prong 5.

Pick up devices similar to the parts thus far To permit operation withone hand and to obviate the necessity of manual removal of paper orrubbish from the pin 5, I provide an elongated metal strip 1 having oneend thereof bent angularly to present an obliquely disposed extension 8.This extension 8 has an opening therethrough to loosely and slidablyreceive the pin or spike 5, and the metal strip or bar 1 is slidablymounted on one side of the handle I through the medium of a guide l0, sothat the spike or pin 5 is received in the opening 9 and the strip orbar 1 is capable of endwise sliding movement. This strip or bar I has aflange l l at its inner end extending to terminate closely adjacent tothe side of the handle or staff member I, and a rounded or beadlikeretaining stop I2 is provided on the handle it in such position that theflange II will travel over this retaining stop on the inward or upwardmovement of the strip or bar I, as illustrated in Fig. 3. A positivestop I3 is provided on the handle I in position to engage with theflange portion 1 l and positively limit downward or outward movement ofthe strip or bar I to such an extent that the pin 5 will be displacedfrom the opening 9 of the extension 8.

A spring I4 is connected with the strip or bar I to normally exertresilient force thereon to move this strip or bar to the position shownin Figs. 1 and 2, and this same spring serves to draw the inner end ofthe bar resiliently inwardly or toward the handle I so that as the stripor bar I is moved to the pick up position shown in Fig. 3 the flange I iwill resiliently ride over the bead-like retaining stop l2 and thisflange II will then hold against the stop 12 to retain the strip or bar1 in this pick up position and against being returned to the extendedposition through the resilient force exerted by spring M. In use, theoperator or user will grasp the handle I by the handgrip portion 3 withthe thumb thus positioned adjacent to the retaining stop l2. Then, theuser will point the handle at the paper or rubbish to be picked up andwith a thrusting movement will cause the pin 5 to penetrate and impalethe paper or rubbish. This same thrusting movement, usually directed atan object on soft earth, will cause the oblique guard portion 8 to bepressed and moved along the length of the pin 5 away from the point 6,and as the strip or bar 1 is moved inwardly the flange H will ride overthe retaining stop 12 and will catch behind this stop so that the partswill be held in the position shown in Fig. 3. Thus, the portion 8 isretained against being moved outwardly under the influence of spring l4.When the user desires to release or discharge the paper or rubbish asthus speared or impaled upon the pin 5, the thumb is placed against theouter side of the flange portion H and with an upward and outward flipthe flange is raised and released from the position behind the retainingstop I2 so that the strip or bar I is free to be moved and extendedoutwardly, under the influence of spring M. The outward movement of thestrip or bar I causes the extension 8 to be moved outwardly toward thepoint 6 of the pin 5, and in consequence paper or rubbish impaled uponthe pin is withdrawn and discharged. This oblique arrangement of theextension 8 has a tendency to exert a biasing force that will facilitatewithdrawal or removal of the paper or rubbish.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a sanitary paperand rubbish picker that is capable of being manipulated and operated bythe use of one hand, and that at no time will it be necessary for theuser or workman to touch any paper or rubbish or other material aspicked up with either of his hands. Also, it will be seen that theportion 8 serves as a guard to protect the point 6 of the pin frompossible injurious contact with the person of the user, and that the pinwill be exposed only following the picking up operation and when paperor rubbish is contained or impaled thereon.

While I have herein shown and described only certain specificembodiments of the various features of my invention, it will beappreciated that changes and variations can be made in the form,construction, arrangement and assembly of the parts, and in the mannerof use, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A paper and rubbish picker comprising, an elongated handle having ahandgrip portion at one end, a pin at the other endof the handle, a barslidably and swingably mounted on said handle and provided at one endwith a guard movable adjacent to and along the length of the pin, meansnormally urging said bar to a position in which the guard is positionedto shield the point of the pin, said guard being movable to clear thepin, and releasable means on said bar adjacent to the handgrip portionto retain the bar with the guard thereof leaving the pin exposed,

said means being released by swinging movement.

of the bar.

2. A paper and rubbish picker comprising, an elongated handle having ahandgrip portion at one end, a pick-up pin at the other end of thehandle, an elongated bar endwise slidably mounted on one side of thehandle, a guard on said bar having a portion thereof adjacent to thepin, a retaining stop on the handle adjacent to the handgrip portion, aflange on said bar releasably engageable over said retaining stop tohold said bar in position with the guard portion thereon located toexpose the pin, and a spring acting upon said bar when the flange isreleased to move said bar endwise to cause the guard .to travel alongthe length of the pin toward the penetrating end thereof.

3. A paper and rubbish picker comprising, an elongated ,handle having ahandgrip portion at one end, a pick-up pin at the other end of thehandle, an elongated bar slidably and swingably mounted on one side ofthe handle, an obliquely extending guard portion on the outer end of theslidable bar having a part thereof adjacent to the pin, means normallymoving said bar to a position in which the guard portion is disposedadjacent to the penetrating end of the pick-up pin, and a retaining stopon the handle adjacent to the handgrip portion engaged by a portion ofthe bar and from which the bar is released by swingable movement of saidbar.

4. A paper and rubbish picker comprising, an elongated handle having ahandgrip portion at one end, a pick-up pin at the other end of thehandle, an elongated bar slidably mounted on one side of the handleprovided at its outer endwith an obliquely disposed guard portion havingan opening through which the pick-up pin is freely slidably received,said bar being provided at its inner end adjacent to the handgripportion of the handle with an inturned flange, a stop on the handleengageable with said flange to limit outward movement of the slidablebar to preserve the guard portion always in position adjacent to thepick-up pin, a spring connected to and exerting resilient force to slidesaid bar to the extended position with the guard portion thereofprotecting the point of the pick-up pin, and a bead-like retaining stopon said handle spaced from the positive stop in position that the flangeof the bar engages over this retaining stop when the bar is movedinwardly with the guard portion thereof exposing the pick-up pin and inwhich retained relation the flanged end is positioned to be manipulatedand released by the thumb-of the hand holding upon the handgrip portion.

PALMER H. CRARY.

